Assumptions

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I had a busy weekend. A class reunion and a pre-reunion get together, so I didn’t write a post. However, I thought I would share with you something that popped up in my feed on Facebook. Thanks for stopping by and we’ll be back next week for our regular scheduled program. 😉

The Four Agreements

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word

Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don’t Take Anything Personally

Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don’t Make Assumptions

Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best

Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.”

~Don Miguel Ruiz

Art | Catrin Welz-Stein

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. Christmas break is finally over, and the Christmas decorations are all put away. Sob. Christmas is my favorite holiday so I’m always a little sad when all the lights and other décor are taken down. Sigh.

Photo credit: wwarby on Visualhunt / CC BY

The night before the first day back to school, we received a weather alert informing us a storm was coming very early the next morning. Freezing rain. We didn’t think much of it because we get alerts like this quite often and the predictions usually don’t pan out or they’re not as bad as anticipated, so we went about our evening rituals, got the kids to bed and settled down to watch one of our favorite shows.

Photo credit: Shawn Harquail on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-NC

The next morning, we got up and had our breakfast before I took the boys to the bus stop. When we arrived, there were no other kids waiting for the bus. Now, our bus driver has a history of arriving early and leaving whether or not anyone’s waiting for her. Something numerous people have complained about. So, we NATURALLY assumed when we didn’t see the bus that she’d already left. So, I proceeded to drive to the next bus stop, I’ve had to do this numerous times in the past to make sure my boys get to school. (Not happy about that. Let me tell you!)

Photo credit: RubyT (I come here for cameraderie!) on VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-ND

No one was at that stop either. So NATURALLY, I assumed she was really early and we had missed the bus, so I proceeded to drive my boys to school. When we arrived, there were no other cars in the parking lot except for the snow plow, plowing the lot. I thought this was odd, but my son informed me the school doesn’t open until seven. This is a new policy and I remember receiving an e-mail about it a couple of months ago. Since it was quarter to seven, I NATURALLY assumed the staff would be arriving any minute.

So, I pulled into the circle drive and proceeded to wait with my boys until the school opened. As it neared the witching hour, no lights flickered on and no cars arrived in the parking lot. I turned to the backseat and asked. “Why are there no other parents dropping off their kids this morning? What’s going on?”

Photo credit: real00 on Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC-SA

And only then did my oldest say, “I wonder if school is cancelled.”

“Check the website.” My tone was light but inside my breakfast started to curdle while my brain shouted. You mean to tell me, we didn’t have to get up at the butt crack of dawn to get the boys to the bus? We didn’t have to crawl out of a warm bed and go out into the cold morning air to drop the boys off at school? I shushed my inner demon and reasoned with him. Relax. We usually get a recorded call at five in the morning when school is cancelled.

I sincerely believed school wasn’t cancelled, but there were no cars and no lights. I started to sweat a little. When my son checked the website on his phone, it was only then we learned we had a two-hour delay.

I’m sure the snowplow driver we encountered had a hearty chuckle out of the lone car parked in front of the school, waiting for the school to open, and I’m sure he had a full belly laugh when we finally realized it wasn’t opening for another two hours and drove away. Yeah. That’s how my week started. So, you know the rest of my week has got to be good after a start like that, right?